How to Be Superman

Superheroes were created to fill our desire, in part, to have a hero, but also to be a hero. For the Alphas in the crowd, it’s likely more the latter. There’s nothing a guy wants more than to be a hero. To come swooping in to save the day, the damsel in distress, and to win the babe by beating up the brute. To be a Man of Steel.

There’s not a guy on the planet who, in his heart of hearts, wants to live a small, meek, uneventful life. Deep down we all hate the 9-5 because it locks us into safety, preventing us from adventure. We hate school because it tames us, domesticates us, and dampens our fire.

We’d love to be a hero, but we’re so emasculated, domesticated, and tamed, that the wild spirit we were born with is now nothing more than a lapdog who needs a hero much more than he feels that he can become one.

You have it within yourself to be a hero. You have the capacity to save the day, to have courage, and to live big. The key word is, capacity. Somewhere along the road it was lost. Like almost every man on this here green and blue and brown planet, you stopped being a man, a warrior, a hero, and started being a victim. Today we’ll work on changing that. Today we bring back the hero and discard the coward.

Being your own Superman has nothing to do with fulfilling the lost fantasy we’ve all have of possessing superpowers. It has nothing to do with fulfilling your pipe dreams – well, at least not directly. Becoming Superman – and I’ll tell you how you’re going to do so in a second – is about finally being the man you were born to be.

Fuck safety. Fuck the monotony and sheer boredom that can exist in day to day life. Life isn’t a spectator sport. TV has made the men of society into Monday morning quarterbacks, not quarterbacks. Rather than acting on your ambitions and desires, you opt for safety. You avoid risk and dive into activities that you have to convince yourself are fun, but deep down are killing the warrior-explorer you were as a young lad.

This isn’t a Man the Fuck Up! to get you inspired post, though that may be a byproduct of the cool shit we’re going to cover.

This article is a “tool giver”.

I’m going to give you the tools you need to have the confidence you require to be the ass-kicking superhero you should be.

So why is this so important?

It’s a matter of life and death. Death isn’t merely the end of life, it’s the wasting of it. It’s waking up everyday and doing shit you don’t like to do to impress people you don’t like. Actually, it’s deeper than that. It’s something we all do…

Instead of thinking big, and doing big. We play it safe and small. Instead of embarking on adventures and experiencing life, we waste our days as if we’re counting down until that moment we kick the bucket and we can be finished with this whole facade, stop acting like we’re having fun, and simply embrace whatever comes next.

I chose Superman instead of another superhero because he’s at his best in every way. He’s strong, smart (the dude can read at super speed), fast, powerful, resilient. Through his parents (Kryptonian and The Kent’s) he’s been raised to be strong-willed, kind, and courageous.

To be at our best, to be super-men, we need to be all of the above. We need to possess grit, strength, power, and resilience, along with kindness and courage and character. For one post, this is a massive endeavor, but we shall attempt to make it a Legendary one. Before we embark on this journey together, I bid you cheers (and yes, I’m holding a glass of scotch in my hands). To have the courage to man up and accept that you need to change shit up a big is the first step.

Step #1 The Spirit

To be a man, a warrior, an alpha male, or a super man, you need certain qualities to aid you through the tribulation that separates the good from the great, the weak from the strong. Almost all of these virtues are forged through pain and struggle. Just like the body that we’ll talk about in a bit, growth, be it of the mind, body, or spirit, occurs in struggle, because of pain, and as a result of hard work.

These virtues are as follows:

Grit – A toughness and resilience that all great men possess. Grit will allow you to do what others won’t dare attempt. It will remove the bitch, pussy, and coward from your being, and replace him with your true, strong Self. Grit incurs a sense of humility, but also pride. A man with true grit is humble enough to do the work, but proud enough to be at his best, always. Grit is created through resilience. Tough men are tough because they’ve faced more hardship, not because they’re born as such.

Courage – Without courage a man can’t create his own path in life. Courage is created through the constant facing of fears. It requires practice in order to be perfected and to become innate.

Selflessness – Superman was super because he saved the lives of others, not because he used his powers to make millions. Forge your own path, make your own moves, create your own greatness, but help others always.

Each of these virtues can’t be incurred in a brief moment. They need to be forged over time. If you haven’t had a hard life thus far, don’t worry, place hardship upon yourself. Join a boxing gym and learn what it means to push through pain and develop grit. Identify something that really scares you, and take it head on (I don’t mean snakes or rats or spiders, I mean a real fear, like starting your own business, or going on a trip by yourself).

If you want to practice selflessness, volunteer. Help kids, animals, whatever, just give some of your time to helping others.

The spirit is often neglected. The mind and body are strengthened, but both will fail you when life gets tough. It’s the spirit that will allow you to step up and man up when you need to. It’ll keep you grounded when you’re on top of the world, preventing your destruction. Your spirit will help you persist when it feels like you’ve reached your whit’s end, and quitting seems a lot better than continuing the journey you’re on.

Step #2 The Body (inside)

Superman is indestructible. Obviously, that’s not something we’re going to be able to create. What we can accomplish, however, is something more along the lines of Wolverine, than good ol’ Supes. By naturally raising our body’s levels of hormones like testosterone (T) and human growth hormone (HGH), we dramatically increase our ability to repair tissue – and not just muscle tissue.

High levels of T and HGH do far much more than increasing your ability to repair tissue, though. Healthy natural levels will literally help you become a super man from the inside out. You’ll experience a decrease in your likelihood of depression, disease, obesity, and cancer. It also enables you to build more muscle, increases energy levels, and recovery from injuries and from your workouts. Not to mention that high natural levels of T leads to better sex, and often more sex.

Simply put, T and HGH make you more manly. If being Superman is about being as optimal as possible in every area of your life, the hormones is where you need to start. Use the following cheat sheets to build a healthier body, as well as a healthier mind.

About Chad Howse

chadhowse Chad's mission is to get you in the arena, ‘marred by the dust and sweat and blood’, to help you set and achieve audacious goals in the face of fear, and not only build your ideal body, but the life you were meant to live. He’s a former 9-5er turned entrepreneur, a former scrawny amateur boxer turned muscular published fitness author. He’ll give you the kick in the ass needed to help you live a big, ambitious life.

Michael

You inspired me about a year ago, and now it’s coming to fruition. Going to meet an owner next week of a business I’m going to buy and get out of this 9-5 (ok, really 6:30-5) hellhole. Took a long time to find an acceptable target, but here we go…

Awesome post! I really love the idea of placing hardship upon yourself, I know you’ve mentioned that before in a different article and it really hits home as my life is far too comfortable. This put that idea back in my head and now I need to stop being such a wuss and actually do it. Any ideas for good ways to place hardship on yourself would be awesome.

Hey Chad, awesome material…appreciate it. I’m just wondering what you suggest since the GH cheat sheet seems to oppose your recommendations on naturally raising T levels. The GH cheat sheet recommends skipping breakfast and consuming carbs at night, while you suggest eating fats upon waking and before bed. Do you alternate between the two?